The Weyr

The Shepherds

Dragonkin mostly prey on one of three foods available to them; leeches, other dragons, and the Ai dinosaurs. There is not much to eat in the desert, so it is not a surprise that their diets are limited to those three things for the time being. The leeches, some small and other massive, feed the young while the Ai provide the dragons that can fly a challenge and a larger meal.

It is not uncommon for an adult dragonkin to punish a hatchling by throwing them to the mercy of the Ai. And the Ai are merciless. Lady has experienced this on multiple occasions while playing (harassing) a new weyr member known as Blep. Blep taught the weyr a valuable lesson in regards to hunting the Ai; how to 'drag' them.

The Ai will hyper focus on one dragonkin at a time, resulting in the ability fora clever and quick dragonkin to lead one or more of them closer to a pond for easier hunting and eating. Also...the weyr has figured outthat this is something that can be used as a war tactic. Dragging Ai to hungry dragons can seem friendly at first, a sort of Trojan Horse style trick. But leaving it is possible to fly away and the Ai will change targets immediately; going for the brave and foolish and young who cannot yet fly.

Of course,such a tactic is dangerous and requires practice. Even the experienced Blep had fallen prey to the Ai while trying to drag some of them to Lady for a sneaky kill. As such, Kross declared that it may be a good idea for the weyr to practice. Kross had confidence in himself and his speed, so he was not worried about his own safety.The safety of his slower members of the weyr, however, posed problem.

In this reincarnation, Lady had become a purple fire dragon. For once she had been well behaved and oddly obedient. She did this every once in awhile, likely to make sure the weyr did not tire too quickly of her antics, or perhaps simply she had grown enough to be slightly more mature. Her sister, Glay, as a brown buff dragon, Cena, a magma plasma, May, still a young crystal plasma due to his prank during TieLendal's welcoming celebration, Silent, a red fire dragons, Bean,also a crystal plasma, Hermit, a gray wyvern, and Fox, an opal plasma, all joined Kross and Lady in this training exercise.

The weyr met up near Graveyard where there was the biggest concentration of Ai. Pookie had gone missing since Lady's harassment, so they were not too worried about the worm being near by. The large group of dragons circled over the Ai, Glay riding excitedly on Lady's back and May being carried by Fox. They were not too sure of what Kross had planned, only that they knew that they would be playing-e rtraining-with the Ai.

To everyone's surprise, Kross landed gracefully in the sands near the dinosaurs and pranced about. Immediately three or four of the Ai noticed him and charged. Kross gave them no time to bridge the gap between them and him and with sand flying in every direction, he bolted. The dragonkin above followed, chattering excitedly among themselves. Lady watched her father closely and a dangerous gleam began to glow in her eyes.

As Kross ran,he attracted more and more of the Ai. Any who neared him would snap at his tail, but clever dodging and bursts of speed kept him just out of reach. He headed up a hill, running toward the Graveyard, and suddenly veered sharply to one side. The sound of heavy footsteps and a loud, gruff call made Lady swiftly fly higher. Coming over the hill was an alpha Ai, bigger than the others by four times, it loomed over Kross and the following Ai.

The alpha Ai wasted no time and charged after Kross and it's pack. The monster was slower than the others, but it's thundering foot steps sent a wave of terror through Lady's heart. Surely her father was in danger!...or maybe not?

Kross did not let the Ai anywhere near him, but tried his best not to lose any of their attention. As he continued to tirelessly run and dodge, the flying dragons began to calm down. Lady eyes Glay on her back and then grinned toothily at her sister. Glay knew that look well and squealed excitedly, wondering what her naughty sister was up to now.

From high in the sky, Lady dove down and flew toward the alpha Ai. Silent, who always had a close eye on this naughty derg, called out in alarm as Lady quickly approached the dangerous beasts.

Lady! Lady you are getting too close!

Lady did not spare Silent a moment as she flew directly past and then in front of the alpha Ai, basically offering her sister up to it. Nothing happened. She flew with the Ai pack, staying low and with them, and then she flew past her father, who snapped playfully at her passing wings. The watching dragons realized that every single one of the Ai was focused on Kross...it was the perfect time for an easy kill.